Blog

Happy Spring, and really it is almost Happy Summer! I hope this finds you all doing well. I’m sorry for the long delay in posting. I honestly just haven’t felt like writing. With my home-based project management job, I spend all day sitting at my desk, working on the computer. We even do our teleconferences and phone calls on the computer, so it is a lot of sitting down, screen time. Unfortunately the last thing I want to do when I have free time is sit at at the computer to write a blog post. That said, I miss the creative writing part so I am trying to figure out a new plan for this space. I also am not thrilled about typing in all those recipes. It is quite a few steps to get them published here and the site I was using for recipe management isn’t working very well. So I need to figure that part out as well. In the meantime, I’m going to try to write a little, share some photos, and some easy cooking and health tips. We’ll see how it goes!

I’ve been loving the screened in porch. My home renovation was so expensive but I tell you, it is worth every penny! I love sitting outside, listening to the birds, reading a good book. It is really like another whole room for me.

If you follow me on instagram or facebook you know I love all the flowers. I won’t put a full repeat here, but this year has been exceptional. The colors are so vibrant. We had a wet winter and I think it brought our all the blooms. I also worked with the flower guild on the flowers for Easter. They were beautiful.

Anyone else get caught up in March madness? I don’t watch many sports, but ACC basketball is the best and those Cavaliers kept me on the edge of my chair. Such good games.

Let’s see…what else? I’ve been cooking quite a bit, but nothing really a recipe. I roast a lot of vegetables, and have been eating quite a lot of salmon/fish. I actually feel better adding in the fish. Go figure. I hate the idea of eating an animal but I just get over it. I am eating very few grains, and amped up the fish, tofu, and eggs and I am not as hungry and have more energy. For fish, I ordered a subscription to Wild Alaskan Company. You can check out their website here, and you can get an offer here. It is sustainably sourced, wild caught seafood from a family company. I get a mixed box every other month and it has usually two kinds of salmon, cod and halibut but it depends on what is in season. It is individually frozen in 4 ounce portions. I share some with my mom as it is a bit much for one person. The fish is so fresh and delicious, nothing like what you can buy in the store. You pay for the quality but it is worth it. I’ll start sharing how I make it.

I checked this cookbook out of the library and the recipes are so good. (Cravings by Chrissy Teigen) I would not call it health food, but the recipes are all real food, and have so much flavor. Be forewarned, the sweet and salty coconut rice is totally addictive.

I spent Mother’s Day with Mom and the Henry/Strause clan with a great lunch out at River Hills Country Club. We had a great time, even though it is always so quick.

Lastly, I’ve had a little rough spot with my orange tabby cat, Red. He was always a huge cat, almost 14 1/2 pounds but has been steadily losing weight. He was down to about 10 pounds last month, a pound down since November. He is skin and bones, but full of energy and never acts sick. He is 10 years old, so we checked for all the usual suspects but his blood work is all normal. They thought his teeth were bad but the specialty dentist vet (??!!) thought they were not the cause of the problem. A visit to the internist specialty vet and one abdominal ultrasound later, and there is nothing obvious wrong, so presumed diagnosis is Inflammatory bowel disease. I opted out of the endoscopy to get a biopsy! So he gets a steroid pill every day and a shot of B12 every week. He has been eating me out of house and home and is definitely putting on weight. I’ll get him checked again next week. Fingers crossed that this will do the trick.

So that is a long post about almost nothing, but it’s a start! Happy hump day!

Welcome to Your Best Defense! I'm Catherine - a nurse, health coach, trained plant-based chef -trying every day to achieve health and ward off cancer and illness through delicious food and good living, So glad you stopped by to join me in my quest!